BOOKING.COM HAS VIOLATED COMPETITION LAW

On December 27, 2019, the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS Russia) opened a case on violation of the Law on Protection of Competition [1] against the limited liability company Booking.com B.V. The violation was expressed in the imposition on accommodation facilities (hotels, hostels, etc.) on the territory of the Russian Federation of the terms of an agreement on the need for the mandatory provision and compliance with the parity of prices and rooms, as well as conditions for interaction with closed user groups.

Booking.com occupies a dominant position in the accommodation aggregator market. The company's actions to impose unfavorable terms of the contract, according to which the accommodation facility cannot set the price for its services on one aggregator of information about accommodation facilities lower than on another, and is unable to offer the best price for its services to third parties, may lead to infringement on the interests of accommodation facilities, as well as to restriction, elimination of competition in this market.

Earlier, on November 12, 2019, based on the results of consideration of the claim of the All-Russian public organization of small and medium-sized enterprises "OPORA RUSSIA", the FAS Russia issued a warning to Booking.com about the termination of actions that contain signs of violation of antimonopoly legislation. The warning was to be complied with within a month - until December 12, 2019, but the company did not fulfill this requirement.

Failure to comply with the warning of FAS Russia entails the initiation of a case on violation of the antimonopoly legislation.

^1. Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Article 10 of the Federal Law of July 26, 2006 No. 135-FZ "On Protection of Competition". According to paragraph 3 of part 1 of Article 10 of the Law on the Protection of Competition, the actions (inaction) of a dominant economic entity are prohibited, the result of which is or may be the prevention, restriction, elimination of competition and (or) infringement of the interests of other persons (business entities) in the field of entrepreneurial activity or an indefinite range of consumers, including the imposition of contract terms to the counterparty that are unfavorable for him or not related to the subject of the contract (economically or technologically unjustified and (or) not directly provided for by federal laws, regulatory legal acts of the President of the Russian Federation, regulatory legal acts of the Government of the Russian Federation, regulatory legal acts of authorized federal executive bodies or judicial acts of the requirement for the transfer of financial resources, other property, including property rights, as well as consent to conclude an agreement subject to the introduction of provisions regarding the goods in which the counterparty is not interested, and other requirements).